There's a droop to his shoulders now that gives him a defeated air. Once again, he can't look at Sirius, instead focusing on the mottled play of leaves in the breeze, the weak light from the house behind them making them just visible from within the deeper shadows.

There was nothing for it, now. He couldn't lie to Sirius.

"Regulus... had his reasons for not wanting to tell you," he begins, voice low as though he were in a confessional. "They were easy to go along with. But I–" He draws in a sharp breath, hand tightening around the neck of the bottle before he forces himself to continue. When he speaks, it's barely a whisper.

"I thought you'd never speak to me again, Sirius." He blinks, then closes his eyes entirely against the sudden burn behind them. "I thought I'd lose you forever."